Ajoten Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 Being a bear of very little brain who likes Precisions, if I had to buy something with active electronics I wouldn't want 25 knobs to faff about EQ. 1x tone control to change from bassy to trebly please. Never seen such a thing. Have you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 East P Retro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 2 band Stingray, set the bass to where your ears tell you it sounds nice then use the treble pot as you have the tone pot on a P bass in the past, simple pimple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 (edited) My Levinson Blade B4 bass had an active circuit with a tone control that worked like a more traditional passive tone control. It was actually a low pass filter so it gradually cut the highs without getting muddy. Edited October 16, 2016 by RhysP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 G&L L2000/2500 - actually it has two, a bass cut and a treble cut. Works exactly the same with active on or off (in fact its very hard to tell the difference between active on and off if you have decent leads). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ajoten Posted October 16, 2016 Author Share Posted October 16, 2016 @walbassist I was meaning "off the shelf" basses really, as if I had a passive bass I wouldn't change it to active. And reading up on it that East preamp is terrifyingly complicated: "the upper knob allows either a mid boost, or a combined bass/treble boost. The lower knob sets the variable frequency points for either mode." is exactly what I don't want! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 (edited) My Washburn Status is active with a single tone control. I've never been exactly sure what it cuts/boosts but there's significantly more variation in tone than you get on a passive bass. Edit: I think the Status Energy (I have no connection to the seller) in the for sale section has a similar arrangement, maybe the seller knows a bit more about it. Edited October 16, 2016 by Cato Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LayDownThaFunk Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 Just buy a passive bass? The whole point of active basses is er, active EQ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineweasel Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 The old Westone Thunder 1A had a single active tone control with a huge tonal range. There was a passive tone as well, so three knobs altogether. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M@23 Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 The Sadowsky pre has VTC which is a passive tone control but works in active or passive mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommorichards Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 As pineweasel said, the westone was the only real bass out there with the single knob eq, one side bassey, one side trebley. Though EMG made a single EQ knob, the EXB which did something similar, but i think it boosted both treble and bass, and cut mids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowieBass Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 [quote name='pineweasel' timestamp='1476625244' post='3155704'] The old Westone Thunder 1A had a single active tone control with a huge tonal range. There was a passive tone as well, so three knobs altogether. [/quote] +1 and it's the same arrangement on the Spectrum LX (which is a PJ bass). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 [quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1476619583' post='3155646'] Just buy a passive bass? The whole point of active basses is er, active EQ. [/quote] No it isn't, the whole point of an active bass is to provide a buffered low impedance output to the bass so that the capacitance of the lead doesn't cause high frequency attenuation in the cable. Having active tone is just a by product of it being powered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 [quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1476630261' post='3155768'] No it isn't, the whole point of an active bass is to provide a buffered low impedance output to the bass so that the capacitance of the lead doesn't cause high frequency attenuation in the cable. Having active tone is just a by product of it being powered [/quote]Spot on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyerseve Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 Surely if your lead is producing that much capacitance it is either broken or been terribly designed. The capacitance of any competently built cable should be so low as to be negligble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkandrew Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 (edited) When you buy a set of EMG active pickups, by default they come with a single, simple tone pot. Edited October 16, 2016 by darkandrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ajoten Posted October 16, 2016 Author Share Posted October 16, 2016 FWIW my question arose from casting an eye around for a nice 5 string, and most are active. I don't care if active or passive TBH, I care about a lack of complication. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 The capacitance of any guitar cable is quite high as a passive guitar has a very high impedance. Even the best cable. The longer it gets the bigger the effect is. On my wireless unit I have a setting to simulate a length of guitar lead which reduces the treble as this is normal. This is what an active circuit was made to get rid of. The tone controls are just there because it was quickly established that if you are having an amplifier there it gives you the option to boost instead of cutting. Fender (as in Leo, not the company) did a lot of work on that, and his original designs didn't have boosting tone controls - the G&Ls never had them while he was alive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 [quote name='Ajoten' timestamp='1476643911' post='3155941'] FWIW my question arose from casting an eye around for a nice 5 string, and most are active. I don't care if active or passive TBH, I care about a lack of complication. [/quote] Thats why I said about the G&Ls. Although I didn't like it when I got it, I sort of appreciate it now, you have a tone control, which acts like a tone control, and you have a bass cut control, that I don't use live but I use it in the house! Works in both passive or active exactly the same way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LayDownThaFunk Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 [quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1476630261' post='3155768'] No it isn't, the whole point of an active bass is to provide a buffered low impedance output to the bass so that the capacitance of the lead doesn't cause high frequency attenuation in the cable. Having active tone is just a by product of it being powered [/quote] Bollocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LayDownThaFunk Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 [quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1476647058' post='3155986'] Bollocks. [/quote] Spot on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 [quote name='Ajoten' timestamp='1476643911' post='3155941'] FWIW my question arose from casting an eye around for a nice 5 string, and most are active. I don't care if active or passive TBH, I care about a lack of complication. [/quote] get a passive 5 string. Even if it is only one knob it's another thing to go wrong. I would say try the 2 band stingray - it really is quite simple to use Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 [quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1476647810' post='3155998'] get a passive 5 string. Even if it is only one knob it's another thing to go wrong. I would say try the 2 band stingray - it really is quite simple to use [/quote] Or a squier 5 string precision - then there are no issues! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 The problem I have with passive basses is that they sound crap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 (edited) [quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1476630261' post='3155768'] No it isn't, the whole point of an active bass is to provide a buffered low impedance output to the bass so that the capacitance of the lead doesn't cause high frequency attenuation in the cable. Having active tone is just a by product of it being powered [/quote] I'd say the 'point' of an active bass is whatever the designer of the circuit wants. Edited October 16, 2016 by ahpook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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